


Second Chances Indeed

by theimpossiblepossiblegirl



Series: 52 Short Stories in 52 Weeks [29]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who (TV Movie 1996)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Friends to Lovers, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-25 18:32:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7543423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theimpossiblepossiblegirl/pseuds/theimpossiblepossiblegirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Rose ends her relationship with Jimmy rather suddenly, she finds herself turning to her best mate for help. As he helps her to heal over the next few months, he finds himself on a whole new adventure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Second Chances Indeed

**Author's Note:**

> Week Twenty-nine: A story opening with the words “F*** you!”

“Fuck you!” Rose growled out before pressing the end button on her phone. Closing her eyes, she let out a deep breath before pocketing her phone.

“Is everything all right?” John questioned as he slid into the seat across from her, sliding a mug of coffee over.

With a slight shrug of her shoulder, she picked the mug up and took a sip. She stared at him for a few moments before averting her gaze towards the window.

“Was it Jimmy?” He guessed before taking a sip of his tea.

“Don’t start, John.” She mumbled, slouching down slightly in her seat.

John had been her best mate for six years now and Jimmy had been her boyfriend for just over a year. John had an instant dislike for the bloke from the moment Rose had introduced them. She knew he had cause for his feelings, Jimmy wasn’t the greatest, but Rose wished just once that he wouldn’t question if Jimmy was the cause for her sour mood.

“I’m not starting anything, Rose. I simply wanted to make sure you were all right.”

Her eyes softened as she sat up, her gaze moving to the murky liquid in her mug as she ran her finger along the edge. “He’s cheated on me. I found out last night.”

John’s hand clenched and unclenched as he made a fist. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as his fingers moved to rest on her wrist. “I’ll kill him.”

Rose snorted, her eyes moving to meet his. “We both know you won’t.”

“I’ll get Mickey to then.”

“No, you won’t. Just leave him.”

He scoffed, his eyes squinting to a fierce glare. “He never deserved you.”

“I know.” She mumbled, moving her arm away from him. “I have more important things to worry about right now.”

“You can stay with me until you figure out where you want to go.”

“I don’t need your charity, Doctor.” She clicked her tongue against her teeth as his nickname spilled from her lips.

“It’s not charity, Rose. I have the room.”

She gave another half shrug before returning her gaze to her mug. “Mum was right about him. She told me not to give up my flat, told me to wait.”

“Do you want to go back to your old flat?”

“No. The area wasn’t the best. Not that Jimmy’s flat was any better.”

“You could go back to Jackie’s.” He suggested quickly, trying to figure out how he could help her.

“Mum’ll have a trip with that.” She blinked a few times before looking at him. “I don’t want to live with you for free. I’ll pay towards the bills until I can find something.”

“You are more than welcome to stay as long as you would like.” He assured her. “Can I see your arm now?”

“It’s fine. He didn’t hurt me. I hurt it when I pulled away from him. I iced it. Don’t know why I told you.” She mumbled, the exhaustion clear in her eyes. “Could we go?”

“Yes, of course. Do you have everything?”

“Yeah.” She gestured over towards the coffee house’s coat rack where her suitcase was sitting. “Don’t have anything else.”

“Everything will be okay.”

As she looked up at him, for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past hour, Rose saw the concern in his eyes and hated herself for making him worry. “’M fine, Doctor.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I promise.”

John left her to settle in the guest room downstairs before he made his way upstairs into the living room. He had watched earlier as she climbed into his car, taking great care in making sure her arm wasn’t jostled in the process. He could see that it was hurting more than what she was letting on and it made him wonder what exactly happened between her and Jimmy for things to have become what they were now.

“I forget how quiet it is here.” Rose commented as she made her way into the living room.

“I like it.” He defended, moving over so she could sit on the couch.

“I never said there was anything wrong with it. Some quiet might be what I need.” She told him as she sat down on the couch. This wasn’t her. She could handle her own, very well, but this whole situation was different and for once, she was going to ask her friend for support. “Thanks for letting me stay.”

“I meant it Rose, stay for as long as you would like.”

“You’ll end up regretting that one day.” She teased lightly as she settled back on the couch.

“Never.” He leaned back, mirroring her pose, his eyes locked on her slim frame. “What happened?”

She shrugged. “He’s been acting strange. Out all hours of the night, barely talking to me. I was home early yesterday and he’s in bed shagging this brunette. Called him some names and we argued. He yelled as I packed and eventually I left.”

“Did you recognize her?”

“No. Probably one of his _groupies_.”

“Then what happened to your arm?”

“I told you, I hit it against something.”

“Rose, I can see that it hurts. It’s more than that.” He moved over and gently took her arm and laid it across his lap as he raised her sleeve. He could see the hand shaped bruise and dared a glance at her. “Did he do this?”

“John.” She warned, her eyes filling with tears. “Leave it.”

“I need to wrap your wrist at the very least. I don’t want it to irritate the bruising though.”

“Can you do it here?”

“Yes. I have everything we may need in the bathroom.”

As Rose followed him back downstairs to his bathroom, she let out a breath. She had been lucky she had been able to get out when she did. John had told her some horror stories from his A&E days. She knew he had never done it to scare her, but for her to know the signs. She followed him into the bathroom and sat down on the counter as he moved around.

“This was the only time anything happened.” She assured him. “I feel like this is my fault.”

“It’s not, Rose. None of this is.” John tilted her chin up and looked into her eyes. “This is all Jimmy’s fault.”

She averted his gaze, clearing her throat softly. In the past six years, John had become someone she trusted, more so than Mickey. They had met in the library one night while John was studying and Rose was working. On her nights off, Rose ended up meeting him there to study and soon the pair became inseparable. It wasn’t until John started seeing Grace that their friendship suffered. She had been happy for him, really. She didn’t realize how much she missed him until he called her one day and told her things with Grace hadn’t worked out and she helped him to pick up the pieces.

“There. You’ll feel better in a few days.”

Rose pulled her mind back to the present and looked down at her arm. Letting out a sniffle she glanced back at him. “I think I’m going to sleep for a while.”

“Right, of course.” She had mentioned in her phone call that morning that she hadn’t slept. “You could have called last night.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Knew you were going to be out.”

“I would have cancelled.” He told her quickly as he cleaned up the bathroom.

“Date didn’t go well?”

“No. She wasn’t my type.”

“Don’t give up, yeah?”

“I won’t.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Get some rest. I’ll be upstairs if you need anything.”

“Ta.” With a quick smile, Rose left the bathroom and headed down the short hall to her temporary room. She didn’t know what she would do without him in her life.

_Six months later_

Rose slid into one of the stools that lined John’s counter and watched as he moved around the spacious kitchen. She had finally found a flat that she liked and was in her price range, despite John telling her she could stay with him. It wasn’t that she wanted to leave, she didn’t. She just wanted to be on her own for a while. The only thing left to do was tell John.

“Would you like something for breakfast?” He questioned as he glanced over at her briefly.

“No.” She shook her head slightly as she bit down on her thumbnail.

“Is something bothering you, Rose?”

“I found a flat.” She told him quietly, her eyes searching his face for his reaction.

“Oh.” His face fell as he turned back to the stove. He cleared his throat and forced on a smile before turning to look at her again. “That’s great news, Rose.”

“I’ll be able to move in about two weeks. I appreciate that you’ve let me stay here for so long.”

“You could stay.” He offered, again. “We can share the house.”

She shook her head, giving him a small smile. “I miss having somewhere that’s my own, Doctor. We’ll still have our Friday night movies, yeah?”

“Yes, of course.”

Seeing that he was starting to become broody, Rose slipped off of the stool and walked over to him. As she neared, she reached her hand out and slipped it into his before leaning her head against his shoulder. “You can come over to mine whenever you want.”

“I would like that.”

Rose grinned as she squeezed his hand before slipping away from him to head into the living room. She wasn’t sure what caused him to become so sullen, she just only hoped he would be better by the time she moved out. When he joined her a few minutes later, he handed her a mug of tea before sitting down on the couch with a plate of food for himself.

“Would you like some?” He offered, holding the plate out.

“No.” She shook her head before leaning back against the couch. This had been their Sunday routine for the past few months, something she was going to miss greatly.

“I would like to take you out on Saturday. To celebrate.” He amended quickly.

Rose turned her head to look at him as she sipped her tea. “You don’t have to. It’s not like I’m moving far. Just a few streets away.”

“Please?”

The look on his face was pitiful, which Rose knew he was using towards his advantage. Nodding her head slightly she smiled against the rim of her mug. “Yeah, if you really want to.”

“I do.”

Saturday night found Rose digging through her clothes to find something suitable to wear. John had told her they were going somewhere casual, but she wasn’t sure how casual he meant. Deciding on her red dress, Rose pulled it off of the hanger and slipped it on before finding her shoes. She wasn’t sure why she was putting so much effort into her appearance. It could have been because of the lingering looks John had been giving her all week. It also could have been because of the small touches against her skin by his fingers. It could just be that she felt like dressing up. After all, it had been over a year since she had the opportunity to dress up.

“Are you almost ready?” John knocked softly on her door.

“Just a mo.” She called to him as she looked herself over in the mirror. “Bugger.” She muttered as she reached for her purse. She pulled the door open and collided with John’s chest.

As he placed his hands on her waist to steady her, John glanced down and let out a low, appreciative whistle. “You look beautiful Rose.”

“Is this too much? I wasn’t sure where you wanted to go.” She pushed away from him gently and smoothed out her dress.

“No, it’s perfect. Shall we?” He held out his hand to her.

“Yeah.” She slipped her hand into his and gave him a grin as they left the house.

It wasn’t until after they had finished dinner and were walking back to John’s that Rose realized he had meant this to be a date. She had thought about being with him over the course of their friendship but never realized he may have thought of the same. Moving closer to him, she slipped her hand into his.

He had done all of the right things that night. Opened doors for her, held her chair out, complimented her, and even danced with her when they passed someone performing on the street. She wondered though if this was a ploy to get her to stay. The offer had been tempting but as much as she liked living with John, she wanted some time to herself.

“If you wanted to go on a date, all you had to do was ask me.” Rose told him as they rounded the corner.

He ducked his head down slightly, letting out an embarrassed chuckle. “I wasn’t sure if you would catch on. I trust you’re not too upset?”

She laughed. “No, I’m not upset. Next time just ask me.”

As they approached the front door, John nodded his head. “I will.” Unlocking the door, he held it open for her. “Next time?” He questioned, a hopeful smile on his lips.

“Yeah, next time.” Pressing a kiss to his cheek she walked past him and down the hall towards her room.

John hurried to lock the door and follow her down the hall. Once they stopped in front of her bedroom door he leaned against the wall and looked down at her. “Six more days.”

“This won’t change anything, John.” She nudged his shoe with hers. “None of it. I will miss being here with you.”

“I’ll miss you being here.”

“If we give us a proper go, it’ll be easier this way.”

“I would like to give a proper go at a relationship with you, Rose.”

“So would I.” Leaning up, she pressed her lips to his quickly. “Sweet dreams, Doctor.” Opening the door to her room, she closed it gently behind her before pressing her back against it, a content smile on her face.

John leaned his back against her door, a content smile on his face. This could work.


End file.
